Chapter 3

New Year's eve, as usual, Isabella's family is busy again, cooking dinner, preparing the table. Her grandmother, Celia, is just sitting quietly on the couch. She looks like she's thinking deeply, reminiscing the days when her grandfather is still alive. Celia said that he is the only man that he ever loved, and when he died, twenty years ago, she almost lost her mind. But she tried her best to stay strong for her five children. Isabella sat beside her and held her wrinkled hands.

"Are you okay, grandma?"

"Oh, I am fine my dear. I'm just wondering how much time I have left."

"Thinking about reuniting with grandpa?" The old woman didn't respond. She just looked sadly outside the window .

"Grandma, you know how much we love you, how much I love you. You're only seventy five and I am sure that you'll live more than a hundred. We need you grandma. You're the only one who makes me feel loved. "

"Don't be silly my child, you see, I am already weak and sickly, and one day, you will also find someone who will love you more than I do."

"You're still as strong as a bull, grandma. About love, hmmm, I don't know."

Celia looked around, making sure that there's no one else in the living room who might hear what she is going to tell Isabella.

"My child, I just have one advice for you," she started, looking straight to Isabella's eyes.

"First love always lasts the longest. No matter how long or how quick the relationship lasted, your first love is the only love that would haunt you until the end of your life. So, it's either you fall in love once you are mature enough to know the difference between love and infatuation, and tough enough to handle such strong feelings, or marry your first love, stay together through sickness, health, richness or poorness, because nothing's more tragic than seeing your loved one in love with someone else, and living the life that's supposed to be yours. Now, I am talking about real love, not just some hanky panky crushes or what not."

Isabella squeezed Celia's hands and thought about Carlo. Is it true love that I feel for him or is it just another infatuation? She kissed her grandmother's forehead and said, "I love you so much grandma. I love you soooo much. I'll just go help in the kitchen, okay? Don't think about grandpa too much, he will be sad too if he sees you like that.

Isabella took the tray of meat out into the front yard. As usual, she's the one in charge of cooking barbecue. She was busy setting the coals to fire when she heard soft knocks from their gate. She knew it is Carlo. She opened the gate and there he is, in his black shirt with printed characters that she doesn't understand. He is wearing khaki shorts and black Nike sneakers. He handed her a box again, this time, with chocolate cupcakes.

"Happy New Year, best friend!" He greeted. Isabella smiled sweetly before replying, "Happy New Year, too, my dearest best friend."

"My grandmother insisted that I give you these. She's the one who baked them."

"That is so sweet of her. Please send her my regards and thank you."

"I will. Goodbye, Isabella. I'll see you in… two days?"

"Yep! I can't wait."

As Isabella was closing the gate, her mother noticed the box she is holding.

"So your guy visited you again, huh?"

"Uh, not really. His grandmother baked cupcakes and wanted to give us some."

"Why didn't you invite him in?" she asked with an eyebrow arched highly.

"He's going to another friend's house to deliver the other cupcakes." She lied.

Two more days, and they will see each other again in school. She is very excited that she's already thinking about how they would react after sitting beside each other again, talking freely. Will he hug me, or should I hug him to show how excited I am to see him again? Or are we just going to look into each other's eyes and pretend to communicate secretly? She laughed at her thoughts. What have you done to me, Carlo, is there something in the cake that makes me think about you all the time? She took the ring from her drawer again, stared at it for a moment and put it on her left ring finger. Then she laid on her bed and started reading her book "Immortal" until she fell asleep. Isabella had a dream again. She was walking down a pasture of green grass and colorful flowers, with many butterflies around. The sky is just as blue as her previous dream, with a few clouds floating on the sky. There's a tree nearby, where the white horse is standing, grazing on the grass around the tree. It was the same horse, glowing in its whiteness from her previous dream. She slowly walked towards it and it didn't seem to notice her. When she's just a few feet away, the horse looked at her like with human eyes, examining the approaching girl in white dress. The horse stopped grazing and moved its hind foot backwards. She continued to approach the beast but it shifted, moved back and ran away from her. She tried to follow it but ran so fast, it disappeared in the middle of the trees. She woke up panting, tired from chasing the white beast. She stood up and walked towards the fridge to drink a glass of water. Going back to her bed, she wondered what those dreams mean, especially the horse. What does a white horse mean?

She turned the light off and closed the curtain of her room. Everyone else is still sleeping; after all, it's only two in the morning. She sneaked into her bed and whispered Carlo's name. How she wished that he could hear her. She hugged her pillow that smells like jasmine, tightly and buried her face under it.